“The intensity level is remarkable,” says Buchanan, who was also the treasurer of Reagan’s presidential primary campaigns in 1976 and 1980 and national treasurer of Reagan’s general election presidential campaigns in 1980 and in 1984.
“It’s not only showing up in the polls, but if you go out in the states as I have, in Florida and in Wisconsin, the excitement level is something that I haven't seen since Reagan,” she says.
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At a rally in Colorado, “The forum sat 10,000 people and 10,000 people packed in there and they had to turn people away,” Buchanan says. “In Leesburg, Va., there were 8,000 people in the line to get in, and it was a mile long down into the main part of town.”
Buchanan says Romney’s campaign has become a movement.
“I think that it is clear that voters see that there can be a brighter future and that they have to make certain that they give their kids that opportunity by voting for Mitt Romney,” says Buchanan, whose book “Bay and Her Boys: Unexpected Lessons I Learned as a (Single) Mom” came out recently.
Buchanan says President Obama’s campaign overplayed its hand by portraying Romney as a scary ideologue or vulture capitalist. The first debate shattered that caricature and changed the momentum.
“In the first debate, voters saw somebody that had the expertise, had the knowledge, and had the plan to get America back to work,” Buchanan says. In the last debate, Obama “seemed like he was trying to get the more senior, the more grounded candidate to respond to him. As a result, he came across as not presidential,” Buchanan says.
“There are people, especially women, who recognized that times are very tough and that it is time to possibly go with someone else,” Buchanan says. “We need someone who has answers who could solve problems and put America back to work. So, I think they were looking. They may have still been in the Obama column, but they were ready to consider another option if it was a legitimate alternative.”
When those voters tuned in to the first debate, “They said, 'My golly, this is a remarkable option, a remarkable candidate,' and they moved to him,” Buchanan says. “There was an enormous swing at that time.”
Since then, “I think people are just being reaffirmed,” Buchanan says. “Those who were ready to move or were considering moving realized that indeed, after two more debates, he is everything that they thought he was in the first debate.”
Romney’s less aggressive style in the final debate was his idea, Buchanan says.
“This was a deliberate decision on the part of the governor to change the strategy a little bit,” she says.
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“I believe what he basically did was decide it’s not about winning the debate point by point by point; it’s about winning the election. It’s about reaching those voters who are tuning in and letting them know that I have a plan not only here in this country but with respect to our foreign policies as well. He looked presidential and he sounded presidential and clearly had a remarkable grasp of the issues with respect to foreign policy and domestic issues as well.”
As a result, “From my personal experience, the excitement and enthusiasm of our supporters is equal to what I saw during Ronald Reagan’s first campaign,” Buchanan says. “We’re now a movement to change America, and Mitt Romney heads it up.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is the New York Times best-selling author of books on the Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. Read more reports from Ronald Kessler — Click Here Now.